Graham McTavish as Dwalin, left, Ken Stott as Balin, Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Richard Armitage as Thorin and William Kircher as Bifur in a scene from "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." (Warner Bros.)

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” arrives on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, and Hero Complex readers get an exclusive first look at video promoting the release.

The film, which was a box-office blockbuster last winter, is the second installment in Peter Jackson’s planned movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s landmark 1937 novel. “Desolation of Smaug” chronicles Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) travels with Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his company of dwarfs in their mission to reclaim their treasure-filled homeland Erebor from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch).

The journey takes them through many mysterious corners of Tolkien’s fantasy world, Middle-earth, including the dark forest Mirkwood, where Bilbo experiences a milestone in his personal quest for courage. In the exclusive video below, Jackson talks about creating the giant spiders that Bilbo faces.

“This time ’round in Mirkwood, I was able to do webs and nests,” Jackson says in the video. “When I’m in a garden, and I see a spider’s nest in a bush, it kind of freaks me out. I can just imagine thousands of little, tiny spiders sort of breeding in there, and one day they’re all going to come out.”

He said he drew from that fear to create the creepy, crawly atmosphere for Bilbo’s much bigger foes.

“The sequence is pretty creepy. Pete’s an arachnophobe, so these spiders creep him out as much as the audience,” says visual effects supervisor Eric Saindon. “He tries to push it like the spiders are in the theater with you.”

The “Desolation of Smaug” home video release is available in a variety of packages, including a limited edition set ($105.43) that features two Gates of Erebor replica bookends, as well as the theatrical version of the film in 3-D high-definition, high-definition and standard definition. The film is also available as a Blu-ray 3-D combo pack for $44.95, a Blu-ray combo pack for $35.99 and as a 2-disc DVD special edition for $28.98, as well as for streaming and download from digital retailers and video-on-demand services.

The home video release of “‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” (Warner Bros.)

Special features on the Blu-ray and DVD releases include Jackson’s behind-the-scenes featurettes about the production, a look at the film’s New Zealand sets and a music video for Ed Sheeran’s theme song, “I See Fire.”

The franchise’s third and final movie, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” is due in theaters Dec. 17.

[For The Record, 1:05 p.m. PDT April 10: A previous version of the post stated that the embedded video is a clip from the Blu-ray release’s bonus features. The video was created to promote the release.]